On Time
by BadAddy
Summary: Willow tries to fix a mistake, but makes a new one instead... BtVS/HP X-Over


Title: On Time (1/1)   
  
Author: Addy (BadAddy47@hotmail.com)   
  
Rating: PG-13   
  
Pairing: Willow/...guess:) pairing numbers for QR are listed at the end of the fic, teeheehee   
  
Distribution: The Quickie Challenge, Twisting the Hellmouth, WLS, OADNT, Fanfiction.net, Near Her Always   
  
Summary: Willow goes back in time to fix a mistake, but makes a new one instead...   
  
Spoilers: see notes.   
  
Notes: BtVS/HP X-Over. If anyone thinks they'd be a good beta reader, holla at me.   
This is a response to Jinni's Quickie Challenge.   
  
TIMES AND PEOPLE (Important): OK, work with me here, b/c I'm messing with time. Willow – still (originally) born in 1982. Lily Evans – born in 1952, died in 1981, which means Harry – born in 1980. And finally, Dumbledore and Sirius (as well as all the people that that entails) went to school at the same time and are the same age (more or less).  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
  
You know, time is a funny thing. It can be your best friend, and it can be your worst enemy. It was both to me.   
  
I should probably explain.   
  
At the beginning of my life, time was my acquaintance. It was indifferent towards me, passing by at a more or less standard pace; the hours past by slightly more slowly when my parent were gone, a little more quickly when Xander and Jesse were there. Then I met Buffy. Time went from a disinterested party to an impending apocalypse we were always racing against. But still, it went by with consistency. If you looked a working clock and it said 11:59, it would say 12:01 two minutes later. It wasn't a question of what time it would be, but rather would we be there to see it.   
  
I don't ask the latter anymore, and I didn't ask the former until it was too late.   
  
Eventually, time became something I wanted to change entirely. In a split second – a *split* *second* – Angel, my best friend's true love and one of the most selfless... beings... I've ever known, was sent to hell. Jenny was gone, Buffy was falling apart, the Slayerettes were falling apart. None of that would have happened... if only I had given him his soul back a little bit earlier... I wanted to fix it, I wanted to make it all better. I wanted to go back, to warn them and prevent Angel from ever losing his soul in the first place.   
  
Time seemed to have other plans for me.   
  
I went back too far. Way, way too far. A spell that was supposed to send me back 3 months sent me back 30 years. So much for my Willow-y math skills.   
  
Oh, but it gets better.   
  
The Ministry of Magic found me. Apparently they carefully monitor time travel, especially the kind that takes place without a timepiece. They don't allow it without a timepiece, not even to return to the original time, without special permission. Part of the permission required that the witch or wizard in question graduate from an accredited school of magic and pass the OWLS. Without either of these, I was stuck until I got the appropriate credentials to go back. That was bad enough. But here's the kicker. Apparently, my soul was already in use at that time, by a certain Lily Evans.   
  
So it was my mind and our spirit in her body. Great. Just when I was getting comfortable in my own pale, bony, red-headed mess. At least I got to keep my green eyes.   
  
Fortunately, I traveled back exactly 30 years, so it was still the beginning of June. I had an entire summer to become acquainted with the witch that was Lily Evans. Like that was a sufficient amount of time to learn everything about a girl who had been around for sixteen years, just like me, but nothing else could be done. C'est la vie, her parents said. I met her family (much to Petunia's displeasure), I studied her life's history, I read her diary... and on top of all that, I had to learn proper magic. This was all done very quietly; no one except for her parents, a few choice ministers, and a select few professors at Hogwarts knew what was going on. The Ministry said that it would be better that way. That it would prevent anyone from getting any ideas about time travel. Personally, I thought my story would be a great as part of a prevention program, but the minister didn't seem to agree with me there.   
  
The Hogwarts school year began again. Fortunately for me, although not so much for Lily, she wasn't particularly close to anyone. She wasn't an outcast, but there was no one that would really notice any minor changes, or if they did they would just chalk it up to three months spent on summer holiday. It made things easy, but it also made me lonely. The hours dragged on, and time was my enemy again.   
  
Then I met him.   
  
I'll never forget how we met. Maybe I should have taken it as a sign of things to come. Maybe a sign that I could have stopped the things to come…   
  
I don't suppose it matters either way now.   
  
I was sitting in the library, reviewing some charms material. Lucius Malfoy had a talent for charms and had been helping me, but I stayed and continued to work even after he left. He could be really obnoxious, but oddly enough he always seemed willing to help me. He told me that my power drew him like a moth to a flame, that some wizard would be truly great because of me.   
  
I thought he was kidding. How could I know about the prophecies he had read?   
  
My housemates weren't too happy about my study-buddy; during meals I heard whispers. "What happened to Lily Evans?" they asked each other. I wanted to answer. I wanted to say, "Lily doesn't live here anymore." But I couldn't.   
  
I suppose I could have studied in the Gryffindor common room, but I felt like I had to put on a façade while I was there. Besides, the library had always been my home; it had been my sanctuary in Sunnydale, and the smell of old books and the older magics they held gave me a certain comfort. Except for those in the restricted section. Which, interestingly enough, were the ones he was trying to take.   
  
The scream that echoed from the Dark Arts book distracted me from my studying. I looked up and saw him. Brown hair, intense eyes, and a look of frustration on his face greeted my stare. I'm not sure what I did, but I must have done something to get his attention, because in a second he looked at me and winked.   
  
Love at first sight? Maybe not.   
  
But definitely something more than I had felt before.   
  
When the librarian came, I told her that I had screamed, that he had surprised me. I don't know what made me lie for him… I suppose I just felt bad for him. It was almost like taking a lost puppy in before a storm hit. I even prevented the storm. She only lectured both of us about proper behavior in a library, then left us to our own devices. From then on, we were inseparable. He told me I was beautiful, and when he said it, I believed it. I saw past his handsome face to the talented, strong, deep wizard he was. We talked about his Muggle father, about my Muggle family. We talked about witchcraft, about professors, about our homes, about anything and everything… and then we kissed. I felt the warmth, the sizzle, from my head to my toes. I finally felt at home in a time that wasn't mine. Time finally became my friend, because I had so much of it to spend with someone, with him. I was happy.   
  
Of course, time flies when you're having fun.   
  
A year later, the Malfoys came forward to the Ministry with a prophecy they had found in their extensive private library. I won't get into the sordid details, but basically it told me that a powerful, evil wizard would rise, and my son would be the one to stop him. My son would be the only one that could stop him.   
  
Oh. One more little detail.   
  
It had to be my son by James Potter.   
  
Don't misunderstand me. I love James. I love his scruffy hair, I love his roguish smile, I love the way he holds me. Held me. Sometimes I wonder, if I hadn't met Tom first, would James and I have ended up together without interference?   
  
That's right. Tom Riddle.   
  
When I was with him, he completely forgot about the Dark Arts. The time we met was the only time I saw him the in the Restricted Section of the library. That is, until we broke up. Strange things began happening, but I never said anything because I didn't have any proof. I regret that now. Witches and wizards were found around the school, petrified. Before each petrification, Tom would ask me to come back to him. After each time I said no, another student would turn up, face frozen in horror. After one girl... Myrtle?... died, he stopped asking. There was no turning back for either of us.   
  
I found out, too late, there was one little detail the Malfoys had cut out of the prophecy.   
  
If I didn't leave Tom, he wouldn't have turned to the Dark Arts in the first place.   
  
I found out only a minute before this pounding at the door started. Peter is here, he just told me about Tom and Malfoy and everything... Wait a second.   
  
How did he know all those things?   
  
The door is trembling with the force of every knock...   
  
How can there be a knock on the door? Isn't Peter the only one who can find...   
  
Oh no. Peter is with him. And he's here.   
  
"Stand aside, girl!"   
  
I know he wants it to be an order, but the way his eyes look at me pleadingly belies his voice. I think this is my last chance to go back to him, by letting him kill the one wizard that could stop him… I love him, but I can't let him do that. Not to Harry.   
  
"Please, no!"   
  
I placed the charm on my baby boy. Good bye, sweetie. I love you. I'll always watch over you…   
  
"Avada Kedavra!"   
  
And I'll see you soon, Voldemort, if my charm is any good. I was tutored by the best, after all. It'll give Harry the time he needs to learn how to defeat you.   
  
Time is on your side right now, Harry, like it was never on mine. Use it well.   
  
*End Fic*   
  
pairing #32 and #40 in the Quickie Challenge   
Please send feedback, this is my first attempt at something a little more dramatic, so I am *DESPERATELY* awaiting your assessment... please let me know what you think, I would be eternally grateful! 


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